This week I received a photo of a Chinese police officer amongst a huge pile of counterfeit drugs. This shows only a fraction of the fake medications that have been seized in Beijing in the past few months. China is the biggest source of counterfeit medications that have absolutely flooded the internet in recent years and pharmaceutical experts say that "the illicit trade is now believed to be worth $75 billion globally."

Later in the week a colleague sent me a transcript of the horrifying ABC radio account on counterfeit drugs. "Hear about drugs which are supposed to fight malaria and which are just paracetamol and Viagra, contraceptives which only contain an antibiotic and drugs with only a fraction of the right dose." Please also see the TGA's consumer information webpage for a brush up of what constitutes a counterfeit medication. I'd love to hear your thoughts and/or experiences with fake medications in Australia. Please reply or email me.